


Lightening Strikes the Heart

by transteverogers



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragon Riders, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bottom Liam, M/M, Rimming, Top Zayn, dragon rider au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 15:31:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3815626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transteverogers/pseuds/transteverogers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam's the first dragonless rider in over 4 centuries so that kind of sucks. That is, until Zayn shows up and things get a little out of hand from then on but neither boy complains. Until shit hits the fan, like it always does. </p><p>(AKA "Too Hot, Hot Damn, Make a Dragon Wanna Retire Man")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightening Strikes the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> So this is in response to the [dragon rider au](http://invisibleinnocence.tumblr.com/post/108597684426) that was going around ages ago and it took me way longer than I thought it would (half my muse leFT THE BAND OK) but yes thanks to [Eva](http://hewasmyqueen.tumblr.com) for the alternate title and cheerleading me through this, you're my favourite :) actual title from Brighter Than the Sun by Colbie Caillat. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [squishyliampayne](http://squishyliampayne.tumblr.com/)

Liam wakes up by a loud, rough knocking on his door, startling him so much he nearly falls out of his bed- cot is probably a more appropriate word, honestly.

 

“Up at ‘em Payne!” The voice calls, Liam’s not sure who it is, honestly. He’s only been at the dragon rider camp for about a month now, two days ago being his enrolment to the camp, officially a dragon rider, Liam couldn’t believe it. After all those months and hard work, every thing’s paid off. Today’s the day too. The day he gets his dragon. Liam smiles giddily to himself, biting his lip to try and conceal a grin. He gets dressed quickly, pulling on some clothes (nothing fancy, just some beige trousers, a black tank top and the fur cap with a sash that goes across his chest- free from any metals or badges)and leaving his bedroom at the same time as one of the other newbies that Liam had become friends with during his training, a happy-go-lucky Irish boy named Niall.

 

“Ready for today?” He asks with a grin, rubbing his hands together gleefully as they head down the hall and out into the camp.

 

“Been ready since I was born.” Liam says honestly, grin not leaving his own face. The camp wasn’t very large, it was based up in the mountains so really it just had the huge building (called by everyone The Hall) behind them that had everything from the dorm rooms to the kitchens, with a thick wood wall surrounding the court yard, where most of the dragon riders were. There were a few stalls outside, things like the blacksmiths and the makeshift medics, filled with potions and herbs hanging outside.

 

The courtyard was quiet for once, the older dragon riders hanging back as the new recruits head to line up by the long table in front of The Hall, with what has to be over 30 dragon eggs sitting on it. There were only 5 new recruits. Niall, Liam, Kelly, Grace and Robin. Niall and Liam were the last two, joining the end of the line just as the commander, an older man who went by the name Cowell steps up to the table.

 

“Your past 3 months of training have lead you here, to this exact moment. To the moment that you receive your dragon and become a true dragon rider.”

 

“Draco in hav vita sumus, et sedentium in aeternum.” The older dragon riders chant out and there’s the smallest hint of a smile on Cowell’s face before he turns back to the new recruits.

 

“You have succeeded where many others have failed and for that, you are now our brothers and sisters.” He says, motioning for the first person in the line (Grace) to walk forward and begin running her hand over the eggs.

 

She walks slowly, her small hand lightly tracing over the eggs before finally touching a smaller, soft blue egg with darker blue randomly splashed on it. It begins to shake and crack as soon as her fingers touch it and before anyone can blink, a small head is popping out of the egg, making a small yawning noise. Grace cooes softly, helping it break out of the egg and as soon as it is, the dragon slowly makes its way up her arm.

 

“Sister Grace, rider of the water.” Cowell calls out, grabbing one of his buttons and pining it on her cloak’s sash. “Join your fellow water riders.” She’s welcomed by a small group (maybe 5 or 6 people, Liam can’t tell for sure), all patting her on the back yet careful not to touch her new dragon.

 

Liam smiles, wondering what group his dragon would be from. There were 6 types of dragons; air, water, earth, fire, great (not that there were any great dragons left, there hadn’t been a great dragon egg seen in over 3 millenniums) and dark. There were no dark dragons here, only righteous dragon riders were allowed to fight on the right side, the winning side of this long war.

 

The thought of the war makes Liam bite his lip. The war was the whole reason why he was here, why he was fighting for his freedom. There was a far off movement that was quickly making it’s way to them, a movement of purely dark dragons and their riders, wanting nothing more than destruction and chaos. Liam couldn’t wait to be part of it, join his fellow brothers and sisters on the battlefield. It’s only a few moments later until Niall’s walking, touching only three eggs before he brushes over a large white/gold egg that begins to wobble and slowly crack out of it’s egg. It’s the longest one to hatch by far, taking a few moments even with soft encouragement from Niall. It finally manages to kick its’ legs out at the bottom, hobbling around still in there air. A few riders laugh, including Niall, but he just helps break the egg some more, being more careful with it than Liam’s ever seen him be careful with anything.

 

“C’mon you little bugger.” He says softly, “Don’t you wanna get big and fly already? Lets get you out of that blasted egg.” He helps break the eggs some more before finally the dragon manages to get out and jump up, flapping it’s thin wings, falling almost immediately. Niall, thankfully, has quick instincts and manages to catch his dragon before it falls to the group. The dragon looks up at him with wide, yellow eyes, making a happy noise before curling up in the palm of his hand.

 

“Brother Niall, rider of the air.” Cowell says with a small laugh in his voice. He grabs another button, pinning it on Niall’s sash, careful not to disturb that dragon that is watching him carefully, already protective of Niall. Liam’s never heard of a dragon bonding with it’s ride that well, that quickly. After Niall heads over to his own group (a larger one, air dragons are by far the most common), Cowell motions for Liam to step forward as Liam’s own stomach twists itself into knots.

 

He walks slowly, hand softly touching each egg but each of them feel cold to his touch, staying still. He finally has three eggs left, his stomach has already dropped into his gut, feeling like lead. He’d heard of a dragonless dragon rider, but there hadn’t been one in the camp for over 400 years. He finally touches the last egg.

 

Nothing.

 

The courtyard is deathly silent as Liam looks to Cowell, unsure of what he was supposed to do and eyes wide. Would they throw him out? Could they throw him out? What kind of dragon rider was he if he didn’t even have a dragon-

 

“Brother Liam,” He says. “Our first dragonless dragon rider in over 4 centuries.”

 

“I…” Liam bites his lip, unsure what to say. He looks over at the other dragon riders (how can he even consider himself one? He didn’t even have a dragon) as some whisper to themselves and their friends. He looks back over at Cowell, knowing his eyes are wide.

 

“Brother Liam, follow me please.” He says, turning around and leaving, not even checking whether or not Liam is following him. He does follow Cowell but not before looking over at his shoulder and sending Niall a distressed look. Niall gives him a reassure look, motioning to follow Cowell and that’s when Liam does.

 

Liam follows Cowell into his private office, hearing the whispers behind him getting louder and louder with each step, his teeth roughly bitting down onto his bottom lip as he enters the room silently, closing the office door behind him. “Sir, I-” Liam starts to say, but he realises that he doesn’t know what to say. Does he apologise? Offer to pack his bags (which is honestly the last thing Liam wants to do)?

 

“We’re not kicking you out, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He says, sitting down at his desk. He doesn’t motion for Liam to sit down so Liam stays standing, still chewing on his bottom lip nervously. “There’s no reason for you to be nervous Liam.” He says in a calming voice. “I am offering you an out, however.”

 

“An out?” He asks, fingers twisting together nervously. Was this Cowell’s way of trying to get rid of him without actually kicking him out?

 

“An out.” He confirms. “Whether or not you take it, I won’t think any differently about you. All I’m saying is that there might be some…” Cowell pauses, looking for the right word to use. “Difficulties for the other riders.” He finally decides on, his eyes not leaving Liam’s.

 

“You mean I’ll get treated differently.” Liam says flatly, realising what Cowell was saying to him. “You’re suggesting I leave because you think I’ll get harassed because I don’t have a dragon. You’re suggesting I take the coward’s way out.”

 

“I never-” He said but Liam cuts him off.

 

“I don’t mean to disrespect you sir, but I’m no coward.” He says firmly, chin rising almost in defiance. “I’m a dragon rider as much as the others. I worked hard to get to where I am so I’m staying.”

 

Something almost curious shows through Cowell’s eyes, if only for a split second before he schools his face into a mask of indifference- like it always is. “Very well. While the others train with their dragons, you’ll work with whoever needs you that day, whether it be in the stables or the kitchens or wherever I see fit to put you.”

 

“Yes sir.” Liam says, nodding. He almost couldn’t believe it, really. He could stay, even if he did just do measly housework. He was still a dragon rider.

 

“Any and every egg we get, you’ll be the first to touch as well Liam.” Cowell says it so casually, Liam almost misses the implications behind the words. “You’ll be one of our finest riders when the right dragon comes along.”

 

Liam flushes under the praise, ducking his head a bit. “Thank you sir.” He says honestly, bowing his head just slightly before walking out of the office at Cowell’s dismissal.

 

_______________________________________

 

Two weeks later and Liam almost wishes he took the out. Almost.

 

The past fourteen days were worse than his training period. At least during that, there were some people who respected him. Even the cooks looked down on him now, giving him either the most impossible tasks so Liam looks like an idiot when he fails, or jobs that a child could do so he still looks like an idiot. The other dragon riders didn’t make his life any easier, constantly attempting to make his jobs (and life, by extension) harder. Whether it be dumping their drinks on the floor Liam just cleaned or hiding his cloak from him (claiming only a “true” dragon rider deserved one), they seemed to be everywhere Liam needed to be.

 

There’s a soft knock on Liam’s door night before Niall pokes his head in with a small smile. He was still kind to Liam, making sure that none of the other dragon riders tormented Liam while he was around- only problem was that Niall wasn’t around very often, always off training with the other newbies who actually had dragons. “Hey.” He says. “Can I come in?” He asks, but the question didn’t really matter since he was already in Liam’s room and shutting the door behind him.

 

“Sure.” Liam mutters slightly sarcastically, but he moves from where he’s laying in his bed so he’s sitting up, making sure there’s enough room for Niall. His dragon is with him too, curled up on his shoulders. The dragon slowly climbs down Niall’s arm when he sits down, crawling over to Liam and looking up at him with wide eyes. Liam smiles softly at it, slowly putting his hand out for him to climb into. The dragon eyes it warily, sniffing it before placing his still small head on one of Liam’s fingers. “He speaking yet?” Liam asks curiously as he rubs a finger under the dragons chin causing it to make a sound that could only be described as a purr.

 

“Nah, still early though.” Niall says, gently running his fingers down the dragon’s back. All dragons could speak telepathically with their riders, but it took anywhere for a few weeks to a few months for them to develop that talent. “What’d you think his name’ll be?”

 

“Dunno.” Liam says, smiling up at Niall. “Reckon it’ll just be Little Dude from how often you call him that.” He teases.

 

Niall laughs, running his finger across the dragon’s wings softly. “Well he is little-” The dragon lets out a warning growl that Niall just laughs harder at. “And he’s totally a dude.”

 

Liam just rolls his eyes, pulling his hand away from the dragon who whines softly, looking from Niall to Liam, back to Niall before tentatively taking a step towards Liam before he flaps his wings quickly, raising a couple inches off of the bed and flying into Liam’s lap. “He just-” Liam says, eyes wide.

 

“Yeah he’s been flying for a couple days now.” Niall says happily. “First one to do so.”

 

“Amazing…” Liam says, voice soft with awe as he gently pets the dragon before he decides that he’d rather be in Niall’s lap, flying out and over into Niall’s lap.

 

Niall catches him with a hand, bringing it up to his shoulder so the dragon to can go back to his regular spot. “So the other rider’s still giving you trouble?” He asks, trying to be casually about it but Liam figures he knows Niall well enough to see that he’s worried.

 

“Nothing more than the usual.” Liam says honestly, shrugging. “Nothing I can’t deal with on my own.”

 

“Well, you shouldn’t have to.” Niall says fiercely, nodding at him before getting up. “I gotta get back to my room but I heard from some of the older riders that Malik and Tomlinson are getting back tomorrow.” He grins cheekily at Liam who just rolls his eyes throwing a pillow at him.

 

Malik and Tomlinson were the best dragon riders in the battle, it was no secret that those two were a good part of why they were winning the war. Tomlinson was a fire dragon rider with a personality to match (apparently- Liam had never met him) but the one that Liam truly looked up to was Zayn Malik. He’d met the other boy in his village before he signed up for the war, the boy being born the winter before Liam’s summer birth he’d been able to join before Liam had. He’d come to the village after he was a dragon rider and Liam… He’d been completely floored. He’d heard stories about Zayn Malik, the orphan boy who grew up around dragons and dragon riders, who accidentally hatched a dragon when he was just 15 and had been training since that age but the stories never told of how beautiful and unearthly he seemed. His hard brown eyes had scanned the village, claiming that the dragon riders were looking for more recruits and anyone over legal age was welcomed to make the climb and see if they could make it through training. Liam, being long over legal age (he’d turn 21 just the summer passed), left the next morning.

 

“I regret telling you so many things.” Liam says as Niall heads to the door. He may or may not have informed Niall about who had visited his village and he regrets it every time Niall brings it up- which is too often for Liam’s liking, honestly. Homosexuality wasn’t outlawed or banned or anything (Liam had even known a sweet lesbian couple back in his village) but people didn’t always agree with it and Liam would rather not figure out which dragon riders didn’t agree. He didn’t need to give them another reason to hate him.

 

“No you don’t.” Niall says in a sing-song voice, closing the door behind him after calling out his goodnight.

 

The next morning, Liam wakes up to the sound of wings batting loudly and for a moment, he’s confused to where he is and what’s going on before he remembers what Niall told him last- Returning dragon riders.

 

He quickly scrambles about of bed, changing into his cleanest pair of trousers (they still have an odd stain on the ankle but Liam hopes dearly that it’ll be covered by his boots- he still hadn’t gotten around to doing some laundry for the week) and a shirt before grabbing his cap and running out the door and into the court yard.

 

It’s obvious he’s the last to arrive, so he stands back in the shadows, watching as two large dragons drop into the square.

 

The first one is large, one of the biggest dragons Liam’s ever seen. It’s scales are a golden red colour, glinting like fire in the light. The wings are orange, clear as day, but thiner than most of the wings that Liam’s seen and he wonders how that works- how so thin wings can hold up such a great beast. It’s eyes seem to scan the crowd, bored with things, as it looks terrifying as ever, red eyes boring into the other riders making them unease as the dragon stands up taller, horns looking almost like a rams and ready to pierce anyone or anything that makes a wrong move.

 

The second, though, the second one is the dragon that catches Liam’s eye. It’s smaller than the first one, if only slightly. It’s the colour of wood, the wings looking almost like they’re made of it on the top side but before they dropped, Liam saw the strong muscles under the small wings, the wings lined and scared and a lighter brown. It’s head is bowed slightly, as if it doesn’t enjoy the attention but it just allows the riders a better look at the harden scales along it’s neck a deep brown than the rest of it and standing up straight with a skin that looks almost web stringing between each standing bone. It’s long tail wraps around the side of it’s body, resting by it’s front legs as it lowers it’s body as low as it can, allowing his rider to get off.

 

“Zayn, Louis.” Cowell calls, coming over to great them. “I trust your expedition went well.”

 

“Yes sir.” Louis says as Zayn stays quiet, looking over the crowd before his eyes finally settle on the shadows in which Liam is hiding. He gulps silently, hoping Zayn can’t see him and he lowers his head. Of course, Malik’s only been here a couple of moments and he’s already seen what a disappointment Liam is. Liam lowers his head, turning so he can head into the kitchens and begin his work for the day.

 

_______________________________________

 

“Oi, dragonless,” A voice taunts from behind him and Liam has to bite his lip so he doesn’t lash out and say something he’ll regret moments later. “I think you missed a spot.”

 

Liam turns slowly, looking at the floor he just cleaned. There’s a bowl of porridge on the ground that used to be on the table. “My apologies.” Liam mutters, going back over to mop it up silently.

 

“I don’t see why they let him stay.” The same guy says, obviously not caring if Liam hears or not. Liam figures by now they want him to hear this shit. He takes it all just the same, ignoring them and keeping his head down. He knows he’s better than reacting to the bullshit.

 

“What use is a dragonless to the war?” One of the girls at the table say with an eye roll.

 

The first boy smirks. “I suppose they just need a homeworker to keep up appearances while we’re all of actually doing something.”

 

“They could’ve gotten us a better looking one.” The girl complains with a pout. “This one does nothing for me.”

 

The whole table laughs and Liam’s teeth dig in roughly to his bottom lip, rough enough that he’s drawing blood when there’s a velvety voice coming from behind him. “Hello.” It drags out and Liam would know that voice even if he hadn’t been masturbating to its owner for roughly 3 months now. It’s not the type of voice you forget- nor is the face. “What’s your name darling?”

 

The sliver of hope, that maybe perhaps Zayn was here to tell them off, disappears in seconds. “Maya.” She says, fluttering her eyelashes at him in a way Liam thinks is supposed to be flirty but it really just looks like she got something in her eyes. He holds back a snort as he continues to mop up the guy’s mess. “I’m a water rider.”

 

Zayn hums softly, turning to the boy who was tormenting Liam. “And you?” He asks, voice still soft and unchanged.

 

“Kyle.” He says. “Water rider too.” The boy- Kyle- holds his head a little higher, a small smirk on his face.

 

“Thanks.” Zayn says, turning to Liam. “I’ll just go report them to Cowell for you, assuming that you aren’t going to do anything with that information.”

 

There’s splutters around the table, Kyle and Maya scrambling for an explanation as Liam just stares at him, jaw dropped slightly. “I…” Liam says, cheeks flushing red.

 

“Zayn, we were just teasing him!” Maya says quickly, putting a hand on Zayn’s arm. Zayn tugs his arm out of her grasp, looking at her with disdain. “It’s not like he even matters- he doesn’t even have a dragon!”

 

“I’m sorry,” Zayn says slowly, tone low and dangerous. “I thought I just heard you say a life doesn’t matter.”

 

“I just meant-” She stutters, scrambling for another way to explain herself.

 

When Zayn speaks his voice is cold and, clearly, he’s angry. “Do you know why we’re here, what we’re doing? I’ll tell you. We’re hear to protect the innocent, those in need and keep what is good in this world. We’re not here to belittle a fellow rider over whether or not he has a dragon. If I hear about anyone saying shit about-” He looks over to Liam.

 

“Liam.” He says quietly, realising Zayn wants his name.

 

“If I hear anyone saying shit about Liam,” He repeats, this time louder so those in the eating hall (most of the dragon riders are in the eating hall) can hear him. “I personally will report you to Cowell and then we’ll see how high and mighty you are.”

 

The eating hall is silent (save for the scrap of utensils against plates) for the rest of the meal, Liam getting through his cleaning without anyone bothering him for once before he heads back to the kitchen to get his cold and mushy lunch. Like always.

 

He waits until the hall clears out to go back in, sitting at one of the back corners and slowly forcing himself to eat it. He’s sure the cook put this one off to the side just for him because it’s probably one of the most disgusting things that Liam has ever had the displeasure of putting in his mouth.

 

“You look like you’re going to puke if you have to even look at that bowl.” Zayn says, sitting across from him. “I know this isn’t the best cooking-”

 

“I’d rather the stuff Kyle put on the floor.” Liam says flatly before realising how rude he sounds. “Sorry.” He apologises, ducking his head and putting some of the porridge in his mouth. He spits it out almost immediately (onto the floor he just cleaned too), nearly puking. It was worse than usual and Liam’s pretty sure he just spotted a hair in it. Lovely.

 

“You act like you’re eating something different.” Zayn says cautiously and Liam realises his mistake. Threatening other riders was one thing, but no one messed with the cook.

 

“I-I’m not.” Liam stutters, easily giving away his lie.

 

“Well you won’t mind me-” Zayn says, quickly taking his bowl and spoon, scooping up a small part of it and eating. His face pales as he spits it back out into the bowl, gagging. “Oh my god that’s terrible.”

 

“And you just spat into my lunch.” Liam says, wincing. “Thanks for that.”

 

Zayn’s eyebrow raises. “You were going to eat that?”

 

“If I wanted to eat, yes.” Liam mutters before pausing. “Sorry for complaining to you and about what you had to do.” He adds on, cheeks flushing red.

 

“I wanted to do that, you didn’t ask me to do anything.” He says carefully, eyes not leaving Liam’s face. “They were dick bags.”

 

“Pretty much.” Liam agrees with a hint of a smile, ducking his head slightly with a shrug. “You get used to it though.”

 

Zayn looks at him, his eyes with an unreadable expression as Liam blushes, picking up his bowl and going over to the trash, dumping it. “M’gonna see if I can go find something actually edible in the kitchens.”

 

“Check the back left corner of the pantry.” Zayn suggest with a smirk. “I’ve got a mate, Harry, who works in the kitchens, says he keeps the best bread back there so he can steal it later. He won’t mind if you eat it though.”

 

“I… Thank you.” Liam says finally. “Really, for everything.”

 

Zayn shrugs. “Just make sure you tell me if they keep giving you shit yeah?” He says softly.

 

“Ok.” Liam bites his lip, nodding as he heads into the kitchen and Zayn leaves the eating hall but not before checking over his shoulder, watching Liam disappear through a door and into the kitchens with soft, almost fond eyes at the retreating figure.

 

Liam heads back to his room with some bread (right where Zayn said it would be), stealthily avoiding everyone he comes across. He doesn’t eat the bread until he’s safely hidden in his room, quickly downing the fresh bread as quietly as he can. It's been awhile since he's had bread nice as this one, even from before he was a dragonless. It was hard, getting fresh food up to the mountain. Most of the bread and fruits went just slightly stale, harder than Liam was used to (his old neighbour was an elderly couple who made bread and payed him with fresh ones for Liam's labour work around their small cottage) or preferred but he hadn't even had bread since he was revealed as dragonless.

 

He savours his last bite, frowning just slightly when he’s done and realises he has nothing else to do other than sit in his room and wait to be called down for some more chores. Liam sighs loudly, lying back on his bed as he thinks. He knew, getting into this, that being a dragon rider would’ve been hard work but he never even thought that he would end up dragonless and the laughingstock of the camp. Liam sighs again, blinking roughly as he forces down a wave of emotion that threatens to boil up inside of him. He was stronger than some nasty bullies, people who had nothing better to do with their time than pick on someone different or weak in their eyes.

 

Weak people don’t need someone else to come to their rescue. Something taunts in him, the memory of Zayn coming back to the front of his mind. Zayn with his soft hair and warm eyes when he smiled at Liam, the fun and playful look that they held when he told Liam where to find the bread. Liam sighs, almost whimsically at the memory, face going bright pink as he realises what he just did. “Oh my god.” He whispers to himself, eyes wide. “Fuck Liam, you like him.” He groans softly, shoving his face into his pillow.

 

Great. Just fucking great.

 

_______________________________________

 

A few days later leaves Liam working outside, just some maintenance work in the courtyard. It was midday, most of the riders were out either training or on patrol, leaving Liam almost alone in the whole camp. It was nice, he decided. He liked how quiet it could be, the occasional roar of a dragon off in the distance makes his heart squeeze with want but there’s nothing Liam can do about that.

 

“Liam!” A now familiar voice calls through the courtyard, causing Liam to blush and smile all at once. “Hey.” Zayn says, coming up next to him. “What’s up?”

 

Liam shrugs, trying to ignore the pink tint that’s covering his cheeks that is 100% not Zayn’s doing. Nope. It’s definitely just the… cold. “Chores, the usual.” He says, “Cowell wants the courtyard raked up, dunno why though. It’s not like anyone ever comes up here, just us.”

 

“He likes it perfectly clean.” Zayn laughs, “But yeah, kind of pointless… I might have a more fun idea, if you’re up for it?”

 

“Like what?” Liam asks, curiosity piked.

 

Zayn smirks at him. “How about riding a dragon?”

 

Liam near drops the rake he’s holding. “Zayn, are you…”

 

He nods, grin coming across his face. “C’mon, Cowell won’t mind and I know Flos won’t mind either.”

 

“Your dragon’s name is flower?” Liam asks after a moment, mentally translating the name as his eyebrows raise and Zayn laughs.

 

“Everyone thinks she’s this big, tough dragon but seriously, she’s a sweetheart. Won’t hurt a fly if it hadn’t done anything wrong.” He says, smiling brightly. “So what’d you say?”

 

Liam bites his lip, nodding. There’s no way he can say no to Zayn, much less Zayn offering him a dragon ride. “Yeah, definitely.” He says, going to lean the rake up against the wall from where he found it, grinning excitedly at Zayn who grins back just the same.

 

“Come on then.” Zayn says, heading to the middle of the courtyard. The dragons that were too big to stay with their riders, no one really knew where they went, just that they found somewhere safe for them to live until their rider calls them. Zayn stands in the middle of the courtyard, eyes closed as he calls out mentally to his dragon. They wait in silence for a couple moments before they hear it, a large pair of wings beating and before either boy knows it, there’s a dragon dropping down in front of Zayn. She hangs her head, allowing Zayn to gently touch her face, smiling at her. The dragon (Flos, Liam reminds himself) must say something to Zayn, causing him to laugh and blush slightly. “Don’t be mean.” He teases her before motioning Liam to come over. “Flos, this is Liam, the one I told you about?”

 

“You told your dragon about me?” Liam asks, cheeks heating up as he wonders what Zayn could’ve possibly said to his dragon about him.

 

“I tell her everything.” Zayn admits as Liam walks over. “Flos very nosey, demands to know everything.” He teases as the dragon chuffs, it’s wings beating slightly. She must say something else to Zayn, something that has his cheeks flushing a bright red that even Liam can’t miss. “Shut up.” Zayn mumbles, not looking at Liam for a couple moments.

 

Flos lets out a huff of air that must be something similar to a laugh as she rests her head on her front talons, watching Liam with an unreadable glint in her eyes. “Um, hello.” Liam waves awkwardly, unsure about what else he’s supposed to do. She lets out the same huff of air again, her lips curling up into a smile.

 

“She says hi.” Zayn says after a moments, heading over to where his saddle is on her large back. Flos place her wing in front of him so it acts as ramp. Zayn gently climbs up her body, careful not to harm her in anyway. He finally settles into the harness, looking at Liam expectingly. “Coming?” He asks, a small smile on his face.

 

Liam nods quickly, climbing up the dragon as gently as he can. It doesn’t work as well for Liam, a couple of growls coming out of Flos. “Shit, sorry.” He says numerous times before he’s finally up where Zayn is, nervous. “Um…” He says, realising there’s no where for him to really sit. The saddle isn’t big enough for both of them.

 

Zayn shifts up forwards more, face flushing a nice pink. “Think you can fit?”

 

Liam awkwardly moves his body so he can fit into the saddle with Zayn, the other boy half sitting on his lap as Liam wraps his arms around Zayn’s thin waist. “Is this safe?” He can’t help but ask nervously.

 

“We’re riding a dragon Liam.” Zayn says, looking over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “No part of this is safe.” Just like that, Flos is shooting up into the air fast enough for Liam’s grip to tighten in a way that can’t be pleasant for Zayn as he lets out a scream. Zayn just laughs as they go higher and higher. “Hold on tight!” He yells, leaning forward as Flos begins to do a nosedive.

 

Liam screams loudly, laughing as he does so. “I don’t think my grip can get any tighter!” He yells over the roaring wind, laughing loudly as they fly around.

 

To Liam, it feels like they spend hours in the air, flying around the country side and doing flips and tricks. Liam doesn’t think he’s ever felt this happy, up in the thing air, arms wrapped tightly around a beautiful boy’s waist as they fly together.

 

Soon enough though, too soon for Liam’s likings, they’re landing back in the courtyard, sliding off of Flos’ back and onto solid ground. “That was amazing.” Liam says honestly, heart beating loudly in his chest. “Is it always like that?”

 

Zayn laughs, nodding a bit and he scratches the back of his neck. “It’s… It’s not like anything else.” He admits. “Just wait till we find your dragon, you’re… The bond you develop with your dragon makes riding so much more.” He says honestly, and the two boys fall into a nice chatter, Liam asking anything and everything he can come up with about dragons and their bonds with riders.

 

They head back into the building, heading straight for the dinning hall since it’s probably almost time for dinner and Zayn’s telling the story about the first time he’d ridden Flos. “Um, keep in mind I was terrified of heights and falling off of her ok?” Zayn says, laughing a bit. “So, we’re not very far up in the air, yeah? Maybe like, 50 feet? I don’t know honestly, we were a little bit above the trees but anyways, I’m getting more comfortable on her and maybe a little cocky and of course, Flos doesn’t want me being a cocky asshole so you know what she does?” Zayn pauses as Liam shakes his head, actively listening to the story. “She barrel rolls, causing me to just fall off of her. It was honest to god the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced. She caught me, just before I fell out of her reach but fuck, I wouldn’t talk to her for weeks, I was so pissed. Didn’t ride her again for another couple months.”

 

Liam laughs for a moment, before it’s cut off by Cowell stepping in front of them, a displeased look on his face. Both Liam and Zayn stop in their tracks, Liam’s own blood running cold. “Cowell.” Zayn says respectfully. “I was just-”

 

“Not at your post. For your entire shift.” Cowell says flatly, glaring at Zayn.

 

Zayn swallows nervously, looking down. “I was just… I showed Liam what it’s like to ride a dragon.” He says in a quiet voice.

 

“Well because you neglected your duties, a dark rider managed to slip passed our forces and steal one of our eggs.” Cowell says roughly.

 

The information freezes in Liam’s brain, his mouth opening. “A dark rider got in here?” He asks, nervously glancing between Zayn and Cowell.

 

“Fuck, again?” Zayn says, the ‘again’ he mentions causes Liam’s mouth to drop farther. “Fuck, ok, I’ll uh.” He roughly rubs a hand over his face. “I’ll sneak back into their camp.”

 

Cowell shakes his head. “Their numbers have all but doubled since the last time you’ve been there.”

 

“That’s good, it’ll be easier with all the new recruits. I’ll pretend I’m one of them, sneak away from the crowd, find the eggs and get out of there. It’ll only take me a week, at most.” Zayn nods to him.

 

“That can’t be safe.” Liam says, causing both of the other people to look at him, almost like they’d forgotten he was there. “How are you going to manage to find their eggs? Also, I’ve heard they kill people if they don’t hatch an egg. Which you won’t, because you already have a dragon.”

 

“Not a rumour.” Zayn mutters. “I’ve been on their chopping board before, and I’ve seen them kill.” He turns back to Cowell. “I’ll leave tonight, just myself.”

 

Cowell seems to pause, thinking it over. “Fine. Take a couple weeks worth of supplies, and I want you back in a fortnight, latest.”

 

Zayn nods, and Cowell leaves to the two boys alone again. “You’re going?” Liam whispers, eyes wide.

 

“I have to.” Zayn mumbles, not looking at him. “It’s my fault they managed to sneak in again. I should’ve… I should’ve been on duty, fuck.”

 

Liam bites his bottom lip. “I… I want to tell you to be safe but I think that would be kind of pointless.” He tries to offer Zayn a smile but it’s a weak one.

 

“I’ll be back before anyone even notices I’m gone.” Zayn says softly, glancing up at Liam through his eyelashes. Liam’s heart skips a beat in his chest, his cheeks flushing an obvious pink he knows Zayn has to see. “Leeyum,” Zayn says softly, dragging his name out in the best (and worst) way possible. “M’gonna be fine yeah?” He says, taking a small step forward so he can lean his forehead again Liam’s.

 

Liam blush grows, deeper as Zayn’s hands find his, tangling their fingers together. “Can I… Can I kiss you?” He finds himself asking, biting his lip nervously.

 

“Babe, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I first saw you.” Zayn mumbles, leaning in closer and kissing Liam softly. They kiss slowly and softly in the dim lights of the hall, Zayn’s body half hiding Liam’s as he presses up close, hands already tangled in the other boy’s short hair. They don’t kiss long, both pulling away and breathing easily, but Liam giggles softly, smiling at Zayn.

 

“Oh.” He says quietly, unable to hold back his smile for the other boy.

 

“Oh what?” Zayn asks in a gentle, teasing tone.

 

Liam’s eyes scrunch up as he smiles. “You like me.”

 

Zayn snorts quietly, hitting him lightly on the arm. “I just kissed you, of course I like you.”

 

Liam ducks his head, allowing Zayn to pull back a bit, but he keeps holding Liam’s hand. Their hands are basically the opposite of one another (Zayn’s is thin, smaller, and unbelievably soft while Liam’s are thicker, larger and calloused from hard work on back home on the farm and the chores here), but Liam’s never felt like his hand has fit so perfectly anywhere before. “Want me to help you pack up supplies?” He asks softly, rubbing his thumb on Zayn’s hand.

 

Zayn nods, offering him a small smile. “Yeah, that’d be… That’d be great Liam.” He says, easily tugging Liam to where they need to go.

 

_______________________________________

 

The 9 days Zayn is gone are probably the worst Liam’s ever had to endure. The rest of the dragon riders are on edge, worried over their brother sneaking into the lions den alone.

 

“M’just-” Liam’s saying to Niall one night when they’re talking in his room.

 

“Worried, I know mate.” Niall replies, gently stroking his dragon (Zephyrus, Liam mentally reminds himself. He started talking to Niall a few days ago). The dragon was growing fast, already larger than Niall and taking up most of Liam’s bed. Zephyrus makes a small croaking noise, causing Niall to smirk. “Z says you’re way too worried for the two of you to just be friends.” He waggles his eyebrows, causing Liam to groan. “C’mon just tell me what happened between the two of you.”

 

Liam hides his face behind his hands, cheeks going pink. He’d been so flustered about him and Zayn kissing and then worried and sad at Zayn leaving, that he hadn’t told Niall about what exactly had passed between him and the other dragon rider and now it almost seemed… Petty or… Liam didn’t even know, honestly. “It’s nothing Niall.” He groans, embarrassed.

 

“Then if it’s nothing just tell me.” He grins at Liam, causing him to groan again.

 

“Fine, fine.” He mumbles, finally just giving into Niall’s wishes. “We um, we… We kissed. Just before he left.”

 

Niall’s jaw drops. “And you waited this long to tell me?” Zephyrus’s tail whips out to hit him, albeit a bit too hard.

 

“Watch the tail.” Liam mumbles, gently rubbing at his arm. Zephyrus just gives him a blank look. “I just… It seemed dumb, with him being gone… What if it was just a I-might-die-so-might-as-well-just-kiss-this-guy kind of kiss?” He can’t help but ask.

 

“Then he’s an idiot.” Niall says firmly. “You’re a catch, he’d be dumb not to date you.”

 

Liam laughs softly. “Thanks Ni but like-”

 

“No buts.” Niall says firmly just as Zephyrus’s head pokes up, looking straight out the window. “Z what’s…”

He goes silent too, eyes going wide.

 

“Niall, what’s going on?” Liam asks nervously.

 

“Zayn’s back.” Niall says quickly, both boys and the dragon jump up, quickly clambering out of Liam’s room (Zephyrus chooses to go out the window, knowing the halls will be too crowded for a dragon of his size). The rest of the dragon riders are out in the halls too, quickly moving down the steps and out the door, filing into the courtyard even if it’s already dark out.

 

Liam watches the sky anxiously, not having a dragon telling him which direction Zayn’s coming from or how he’s doing. He bites his lip nervously, waiting in a tense silence with his brothers and sisters. Not soon enough for Liam’s liking, he spots a large, dark dot coming from the East, steadily growing larger as it comes closer. “He’s alone.” Niall mutters from beside him. “Flos is injured apparently, but Zayn’s fine.”

 

Liam nods, trusting Niall’s information but needing to see Zayn for himself. The dragon drops down roughly, it’s left wing covered in blood as Zayn slides off her uninjured one. “I need a medic!” He yells, already rushing to his dragon’s other side, trying to wipe away at the blood coming out of the cut, but it’s too deep and bleeding too much. “Where the fuck is a medic!?” He screams again, just as a couple people come rushing out from the building behind Liam, each carrying large first aid kits.

 

He can’t hear the commotion going on but he can see the medic trying to push Zayn away from Flos but he keeps pushing forward, wanting to be near his injured dragon. Liam slowly makes his way to the front of the crowd, most people standing still and watching in silence and making it easier for Liam to get to Zayn. “Zayn.” He says gently. “C’mon, they can heal her if you’re in their way.” He says, slowly reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder.

 

Zayn turns to look at Liam, biting his lip roughly before jerking his head in a nod, moving back. “I-I didn’t even see- I should’ve-” He stutters, watching the cut on Flos’ wing continue to bleed.

 

“Shh…” Liam shushes him gently, rubbing a small circle on his back, hoping to calm him down. “I’m sure there was nothing you could do… Flos, she’s gonna be ok. Just a flesh wound yeah?” He whispers as Zayn moves closer to Liam, tucking himself into the larger boy’s side.

 

“I just… I can’t see her hurt.” Zayn mumbles, obviously scared as his eyes stay trained on the cut.

 

“It’s gonna be ok.” Liam mutters back, wrapping an arm around Zayn’s tiny frame. “She’s gonna be back to normal in no time, just wait.” He comforts Zayn.

 

Liam doesn’t know how long he stands outside with Zayn, watching the medics patch Flos up, but he knows it must be a long time, the crowd long disappeared by the time they’re done and approaching Zayn and Liam.

 

“She’s fine, perfectly stable.” Is the first thing the medics say to Zayn. “She lost quite a bit of blood though, so she’s going to need a lot of rest. The cut was deep too, it may scar, we’re not sure though.”

 

Zayn nods, breathing out a shaky breath of relief. “Thank you.” He says softly before heading over to Flos. She lifts his head, looking at him. They stand like that for a couple moments, just looking at each other silently before Zayn’s hugging her around the neck tightly. “Do that again and I’ll kill you.” He threatens emptily, the dragon smiling a bit as she flutters her wings. “Stop that, you’re going to open the cut again.” Zayn scolds, pulling back. “Rest. I don’t want you to move from this spot, got it?” He says sternly. “I’m serious Flos.” The dragon lets out an annoyed huff, but rests her head on the ground, an obvious sign that she wasn’t going to move from that spot anytime soon. “Good.” Zayn mumbles, gently rubbing her head, before heading over to the saddle still on her back. He gently undoes it, slinging the bag attached to it over one shoulder, and the saddle over the other.

 

Liam goes over to him quickly, taking the saddle off of his shoulder, finally noticing how tired Zayn looks. “Here, lemme take that.”

 

Zayn gives him a small, grateful smile as he hands the saddle off to Liam. They head over to the barn, where they keep all of their equipment, Liam putting Zayn’s saddle back in it’s proper place before turning to look at him with a small blush. “So I lived.” Zayn says, giving him a tiny grin.

 

Liam laughs, nodding. “Yeah, you did. I was afraid I was going to have to bring you back to life and kill you again if you died on me.” He only half jokes. They settle into a silence before- “So what’s in the bag?” He asks curiously.

 

“Oh, uh, dragon eggs.” Zayn says, taking it off of back and opening it. “I got ours back and, as revenge, took a couple of their eggs too.” He smirks, letting Liam glance in the bag.

 

On the top of the eggs, is a bright red one (obviously the that the dark riders had taken) and underneath it, are what looks like 2 or 3 dark eggs. _Touch me_ , one seems to reach out to Liam. It’s the one at the very bottom, Liam doesn’t know how he knows but he just does and he almost reaches out, wanting to touch it. He quickly yanks to hand back, causing an odd look from Zayn. “We should, uh, we should get these to Cowell.” Liam stutters, gripping his hands together in an attempt not to reach out and touch the eggs.

 

Zayn nods slowly, doing the bag back up and slipping it over his shoulder. “We should um, we should probably talk too.” He says. “About y’know… The kiss. And us.”

 

“After we drop the eggs off?” Liam suggest, scratching behind his head.

 

Zayn nods, and the two boys head up to Cowell’s office. Zayn knocks and there’s an award silence as they wait for Cowell to open the door. “Zayn, I heard you’d arrived. How’s your dragon?” He asks, moving out of the doorway so both boys can come into his office.

 

“She’s resting, but healing.” He nods, handing over the bag to Cowell. “I managed to take a few of their eggs as well. They had the one at the bottom on a podium, I figured it was important. Made sure I got that one first.”

 

Cowell carefully unloads the bag, setting the four eggs on his desk. The largest egg, the one that Zayn claimed was on the podium, calls out to Liam again. _Liam…_ It whispers, _Touch me Liam_. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registers that Zayn and Cowell are talking about the eggs but everything around him is fuzzy, everything but the egg. Liam bites his lip before reaching out, his fingers brushing over the egg. It’s cold, almost freezing to the touch. Not like the other ones he’d touched before.

 

“Liam, what’re you doing?” Zayn says, noticing that Liam has his hand on the egg.

 

Liam blinks, snapping out of whatever trace the dragon had put him in and tugging his hand back, but the damage had already been done. The egg was cracking, slowly breaking apart. The three men watch in a silent horror as the egg cracks farther and farther, none of them daring to touch the egg. It takes a long time, maybe because there’s no rider helping her (Liam doesn’t know how, but he knows this dragon is a girl), but soon enough the dragon is breaking free of her egg, shaking the egg bits off of her, staring back at the three men across from her.

 

 _You’re my rider._ She says in Liam’s mind which really, really shouldn’t been possible. She’s too young to be able to talk to Liam.

 

“You… You shouldn’t be able to do that.” Liam says, eyes wide and his words seem to snap both Zayn and Cowell out of whatever horror spell they’ve been put under. “You shouldn’t be able to talk to me, you’re too young.”

 

The dragon scuff, rustling her wings again. Prideful, Liam can’t help but note. _I’m older than most dragons, it’s not my fault I was stuck in that egg for centuries because_ someone _wasn’t born yet._

 

“You’re- you’re a dark rider.” Zayn mutters, taking a step back from Liam, staring at him. “How… How could you?” His eyes flash in betrayal.

 

Liam can feel his heart stuttering in his chest as his mind reels, trying to come up with an explanation. “I… I’m not-”

 

“You’re dragon is- it’s dark!” Zayn exclaims. “You’re meant to be evil.”

 

Liam’s dragon huffs. _Just because I’m dark doesn’t mean we’re evil._ She mutters to Liam in a way that reminds him of a young child crossing their arms in defiance. “I’m- I’m not evil, Zayn you know that. You know me.” Liam tries desperately.

 

Zayn shakes his head slowly. “No… I… I don’t know you.” He says.

 

Liam’s dragon hisses, jumping off of Cowell’s desk and landing on Liam’s arm, digging her claws into his skin painfully as she climbs up his arm, settling around his neck like a snake. He’s upsetting you, let me hurt him. She whispers, her lips pulled back in a snarl. Zayn’s body tenses up, eyes not leaving Liam’s dragon. “Zayn…” Liam says, voice cracking.

 

“Liam-” Cowell says, interrupting their… Whatever was happening between the two boys. “Zayn, perhaps it would be best to continue this conversation in private courters? Ones that aren’t mine, preferably.”

 

Liam’s cheeks flush red in embarrassment as he remembers they have a witness but Zayn just shakes his head. “I don’t… Don’t talk to me Liam. Ever again.” He says, voice barely above a whisper but deadly serious as he turns on his heels, walking out of Cowell’s office. Liam goes numb, mind going fuzzy with emotions but somehow, he’s not sure if he was lead by someone or if he got back on his own, but he makes it to his dorm.

 

He sits gingerly on his bed, his dragon slowly slinking down his arm and into his lap, staring up at Liam. You’re upset about this. She observes.

 

“Yeah, I’m upset about it.” Liam mumbles, harshly blinking back the tears that fill his eyes. “Fuck you- you’re ruining my life.”

 

The dragon’s head flies up, snarling at Liam. _If you’re choosing to believe that that boy is you’re life-_

 

“Well given that everyone will know I’m a dark rider soon enough, they’re going to want to kill me because- because I’m evil, oh god-” Liam says, suddenly getting up and causing his dragon to fall out of his lap carelessly. She growls, her claws digging into his bed to keep from falling onto the floor.

 

 _You’re not evil._ She hisses, obviously angered over this. _Dragons are like swords, we are simply tools in a war. It is our riders decision to make us good or evil. Just because I am a dark dragon does not mean you are a dark rider_. She pauses. _Well, technically it does but not in the evil sense._

 

“Not the time to be making jokes… uh…” Liam scrambles, trying to remember if the dragon had told him her name.

 

 _Invidia_. She offers. _It means envy, in the old tongue._

 

“You mean Latin.” Liam says, beginning to pace his room nervously. “So not only is my dragon a dark dragon, but she’s also named after one of the 7 deadly sins?”

 

 _There are 7 of us, the first dragons._ Invidia says, looking at her talons. _In the beginning, there were only 7 dark dragons._

 

“That’s impossible.” Liam says. “Everyone knows the story of the dragons origins, there was only one dark dragon, just like how there was only one earth dragon, one water dragon, one fire dragon and one air dragon.”

 

Invidia rolls her eyes, lying down on Liam’s bed and curling up, tail wrapping around her body. _I meant in total, 7 dragons. One alive, 6 in eggs… Idiot._ Liam gives his dragon a look for the last comment but she pays no mind, continuing her story. _The four other dragons believed my great mother, Ira, was too wild, a force to be reckoned with. They believed that she would turn on them so, in an attempt to avoid war, they killed her, unknown that she had already laid her eggs. My sister, Cupiditas, was the first to wake. She made it her mission to seek revenge on the great dragons who had killed our mother but, of course, by the time she had woke, centuries had passed. The great dragons and their riders had already perished. Upon hearing this, she changed her mission. She vowed that their ancestors would get her vengeance and that began her mad scramble to lay as many dark eggs as possible. She made sure she kept the rest of us, me and my four other sisters, separate from everyone. She feared that if one of us was to awaken, we would take her power. Greedily little bitch._

 

“Her name does mean greed.” Liam points out, having stopped pacing part way through Invidia’s story, now listening interested.

 

 _Yeah, honestly we should’ve seen that one coming._ Invidia offers him a small smile (which still looks evil and creepy, if Liam’s being honest). _Anyways, Acedia was the next of us to wake but this was long after my other sister’s rule. A millennium, at the very least. Maybe two._

 

“Holy shit how old are you?” Liam can’t help but ask.

 

Invidia gives him a flat look. _I told you my egg was laid back in the days of the great dragons. Jesus Christ, you’re dumb._

 

“You’re my dragon, aren’t you supposed to be nice to me or something?” Liam mutters, cheeks flushing.

 

 _I’m simply stating facts._ Invidia rolls her eyes. Get used to the bluntness. _Now, where was I? Right, Acedia. Lazy fucker did nothing, an honest waste of a dragon if I ever had to listen to one. The only good thing she did with the years of her life were the baby making. She might have actually managed to lay more eggs than Cupiditas._

 

“So is that all your sisters really did?” Liam asks. “Lay eggs and try and create a large dark dragon population?”

 

Invidia pauses. _Yeah basically. They were annoying anyways. The worst part of having dragon siblings is the fact that you can talk to them both in and out of the egg._

 

“Wait you could talk to your siblings?” Liam asks, need clarification.

 

 _I literally just said that._ Invidia rolls her eyes again. _Humans_.

 

“I didn’t even know that dragons could have siblings, give me some time here.” Liam mutters just as someone knocks on his dorm room.

 

“Li, it’s Niall.” Niall says. “M’only knocking because I don’t wanna see you or Zayn naked.” He teases.

 

Liam bites his lip, eyes filling up with tears again. And he was doing so well, pushing all of the feels dwn and ignoring everything. Invidia watches him silently, not offering up any comfort or advice. “Yeah, yeah.” Liam finally mutters, going over to the door and opening it. “I… I should tell you some things Ni.” He admits, moving out of the way so Niall can come in and see Invidia.

 

“So where’s- hoLY SHIT THAT’S A DRAGON!” Niall shouts, causing Liam to slap a hand over his mouth.

 

“Fuck, I think the cook didn’t hear you, wanna shout that a little louder?” Liam hisses, removing his hand after it’s clear Niall isn’t going to scream again.

 

“Liam that is a dark dragon why is it in your room?” Niall hisses, turning around to face him, Niall’s own dragon looking at Invidia with watchful eyes, obviously not trusting her.

 

Liam awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, bitting his lip. “It’s uh, it’s a long story.” He tries to avoid explaining, but Niall just levels him with a flat look.

 

“Nuh uh.” Niall says, “you’re explaining what the hell happened.”

 

Liam bites his lip again, glancing over at Invidia who just shrugs slightly, moving a bit to get more comfortable. Liam huffs, rolling his eyes a bit at his oh so helpful dragon before turning to Niall and explain quickly as possible what had happened between him and Zayn. He tries not to dwell on what Zayn said to him before he left Liam standing in Cowell’s office, feeling alone and broken. He roughly wipes at the tear that falls down his cheek, not wanting to show how fucked up he felt over Zayn. Fuck, he’d only actually known him for a few weeks. Liam shouldn’t be this messed up over him.

 

“So,” Niall says after Liam finishes his story and there’s been a few long moments of awkward silence between them. “What you’re telling me is that that brought back one of the original dark dragon eggs, you’re her dragon rider and he dumped you because he thinks that you’re evil?”

 

Liam bites his lip for the numerous time during their exchange. “I mean we were never dating really but… Yeah, that’s what happened.” He looks down, playing with his fingers awkwardly.

 

Niall’s silent for a couple more moments before- “What a fucking douchebag.”

 

“Wh-what?” Liam stutters, head looking at Niall so fast he’s sure he’s gotten whiplash.

 

Niall nods. “No seriously, he’s an idiot for leaving you like that. Thinking you’re evil just because you’ve got a dark dragon?” He shakes his head.

 

“What if… What if he’s right?” Liam can’t help but ask shyly, his palms sweating. “What if I’m destined to be evil and-”

 

 _I’ve already told you this. Dragons are tools, we don’t influence you, you influence us._ Invidia says, eyes on Liam’s face as she walks towards him, climbing up into his lap and curling up in it. _If you claim to be evil because I’m dark one more time I’m going to bite you’re dick off._

 

“Also my dragon’s rude.” Liam adds, looking at Invidia with his jaw dropped a bit. “She just threaten to bite my dick off. And she’s called me dumb like, twice. She hasn’t even been awake an hour.”

 

Niall, surprisingly, laughs. “This is actually pretty funny, honestly. You’re like- you wouldn’t hurt a fly and she’s- this is honestly amazing.” He says between laughter.

 

 _I like this one, he can stay_. Invidia says, smiling at Niall.

 

“Glad you like him.” Liam snorts softly.

 

Niall wipes a couple tears as his laughter trails off, grinning at Liam. “So, I take it you probably want to get Zayn back somehow- even if I stand by my fact that he’s kind of a douchebag.”

 

Liam looks away, looking down at Invidia and gently stroking a finger down her back, causing her to purr, almost like a cat. He shakes his head a bit, but does it again. “Zayn made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want to see me again.”

 

“Ok but, think about this- we _ignore_ what Zayn said.” Niall says, nodding and grinning at him in a way that Liam can’t help but laugh softly. “Great so we’re both on the same page about that, how about me punching him?”

 

“No punching.” Liam says, offering him a small smile. “But thanks for offering Ni.”

 

Niall hugs him tightly, careful not to disturb Invidia. “You’re my best mate Li, gotta have you’re back.” He pauses. “Also, Z offers his services as well.”

 

 _If any dragon is getting revenge for you, it’ll be me._ Invidia claims, huffing.

 

“No dragon will be harming Zayn. No human either.” He adds, looking pointedly at Niall. “That includes punching and otherwise.”

 

Niall, Zephyrus and Invidia all huff, obviously not pleased with this and Liam can’t help but feel a rush of love for them. He’d never been close to people back in his old village, mostly stuck to himself, so having people offer to defend his honour was new to Liam. He… He liked it, honestly, even if he didn’t want them to cause bodily harm to Zayn or anyone else who might harm Liam in the future. It was nice to know that there was someone (and some dragons) out there, willing to step up and have his back. “Fine, fine.” Niall mutters. “But I think I know someone who might be able to help us.”

 

_______________________________________

 

“Lou, open up. It’s Niall.” Niall says, knocking on another dorm room door, in a different hall from Liam and Niall’s.

 

“Mate, I’m uh-” The Lou says, opening the door a bit so you can only see him, and even him it’s partial, just his head and part of his bare torso. It’s enough for Liam to see that the guy who Niall brought him to for help is Zayn’s best mate, Louis. “Wait, hey, you’re Liam right? Zayn talks about you like, non stop mate.”

 

Liam blushes. “That’s uh, why we’re here. Can we, um, come in?”

 

“Shit just uh, give me a second yeah?” Louis says, not giving them an option as he closes the door. They can hear some scrambling around in the room, as well as some talking, but it’s not loud enough for either boy to make out what they’re saying.

 

 _He has a boy in there with him._ Invidia laughs softly, obviously being able to hear in the room with her advanced hearing. _Obviously wasn’t expecting company tonight, not with what they had set up._

 

“Didn’t need to know that.” Liam mutters to her.

 

She shrugs, letting her tail come around the front, letting it rest on Liam’s chest. _It’s funny, how sensitive you are to sex._

 

“Invidia, seriously?” He mumbles, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She simply shrugs again, letting her tail swish back an forth, just like a cat’s. “Unbelievable.” He mutters, rolling his eyes.

 

Before anyone can say anything else, Louis’ door is swigging open and he’s ushering them in. “I already know about your dragon Liam.” He says, eyeing Invidia. “Zayn told me.”

 

Liam nods, biting his lip awkwardly as he watches Louis. “Personally,” A slow voice says from behind Louis. “I think Zayn’s being an idiot.”

 

“That’s what I said Harry, but Liam here-.” Niall says, flashing the boy (Harry) a quick grin.

 

“Woah woah woah. Are we not forgetting that we’ve been in war with dark dragons for the past who knows how long?” Louis points out. “Zayn’s been fighting them longer than any of us, you gotta cut him some sort of slack. He just found out this guy he’s been infatuated with is a dark rider, something he’s been trained to kill and hate since he was a boy. Bit of a whiplash for him yeah?”

 

“Oh.” Liam says, biting his lip and looking down at the floor.

 

 _Well I suppose if you do look at it that way._ Invidia mumbles in his head, _it’s a little less… Incriminating. His reaction to me, I mean._

 

“I’m not saying Zayn isn’t an idiot, because he is but… You gotta give him some time to process this all.” Louis says, gently placing his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “He’s confused, really confused.”

 

Liam nods. “Yeah, yeah I… I should-”

 

Before he can finish talking, there’s a loud knocking on the door. “Lou- Louis, you’re probably busy with Harry but can- can we talk?” Zayn’s says, voice cracking and Liam’s heart leaps in his chest. “M’gonna come in, yeah?” Zayn says, already turning the handle on the door and pushing it open before anyone can stop him.

 

The five boys stand in silence, no one daring to say anything as they all look at one another. Liam bites his lip nervously as Zephyrus’s tail whips out, slapping Liam in the back of the legs and causing him to go off balance, falling into Zayn. “Shit, shit, sorry.” Liam mumbles, as Zayn catches him. Liam looks up and he swears, the world stops moving, his heart stops beating, every cheesy cliche happens when he looks at Zayn.

 

“What are… What are you doing here?” Zayn asks, breaking the moment by looking away and removing his hands from Liam once he’s stable.

 

“I was- I was trying to get Louis to help me.” Liam says honestly. “With um, with what’s going on between us.”

 

“I told you I never wanted to see you again.” Zayn’s eyes fill with anger and tears, his fits balling up in rage. “You’re evil.”

 

Invidia hisses from where’s she’s perched on Liam’s shoulder, her wings ruffling and filling out as she attempts to make herself bigger. _We’re not evil_. She hisses in Liam’s mind.

 

“We’re not evil.” Liam repeats, less vicious. “The dragon doesn’t influence the rider, it works the other way around.”

 

Zayn can’t help but snort, a couple angry tears falling down his face. “Oh yeah, and who told you that? You’re new pal there?”

 

“Yeah.” Liam says firmly, standing up a little taller. “As a matter of fact, she did tell me that. And she has a name, it’s Invidia.”

 

“ _Envy_.” Zayn hisses at him. “How appropriate, a sin.’

 

Liam’s vision flashes red, his fists balling up. “Don’t you dare say that.” He growls at Zayn. “Don’t you dare say that about her.”

 

“Why not?” Zayn cocks his head at Liam insultingly. “She’s turning you into a monster.”

 

That’s all Invidia needs to jump off Liam’s shoulder, attempting to attack Zayn. Liam grabs her out the air, wrapping his hands around her smaller body. _No let me at him, he hurt you._ She hisses and growls, struggling in his hands. “Invidia, no.” Liam says softly, keeping his grip firm as he looks up at Zayn. “Dragons are tools.” He repeats what Invidia told him earlier, beginning to believe it. “They don’t have anymore more power over us than a hammer or a sword would. It’s the men riding them that make them into monsters.”

 

“Then why do they all ride dark dragons?” Zayn tries, looking at Invidia warily. She doesn’t help his uneasiness, hissing at him and baring her teeth.

 

“Because they have the same misconception that you have!” Liam can’t help but shout. “That the dragons are evil and wrong, but they’re not.”

 

“I don’t trust you.” Zayn says flatly, looking at Liam’s dragon. “I don’t.”

 

 _And I think you’re a self entitled asshole who really needs to leave this room before I attempt to vaporise you._ Invidia huffs, finally going limp in Liam’s hands.

 

“She’s…” Liam was going to use ‘nicer than you think’ but he honestly doesn’t think that fits her. “She’s different than you think.”

 

“I’m going to help Liam train her.” Louis says, the only one of the boys finally speaking up. They’d all been watching the spectacle in front of them expand, obviously not willing to step in until now. “You know how fire dragons are Z, how difficult they are to train and tame. If anyone’s not going to let Invidia do anything harmful to Liam, it’s me.”

 

 _It’s like they forget if you die, I die too._ Invidia mutters to him, rolling her eyes and skillfully getting out of his hands and climbing up his arm again, taking her favourite spot around his shoulders.

 

“She won’t harm me.” Liam finds himself saying, looking at Louis. “But thank you.”

 

Zayn swallows, looking around the room before his eyes land on Liam. Something flashes in them, an expression Liam’s sure he knows but it’s gone before he can properly read it, Zayn’s face expertly schooled into a blank face. “Cowell would have to approve you staying here.” He finally says. “You might want to start packing you’re things, just in case.” He turns on his heels, stalking out of the room and leaving Liam standing there, watching him go for the second time that day.

 

_______________________________________

 

Over the next few weeks, Invidia grows at an alarming rate. At first, it terrifies Liam because he’s sure there has to be something wrong with her, medically, but Invidia assures him that this is natural, for a dragon of her age to be growing this fast.

 

By week 3, she’s large enough for Liam to fly. “No barrel rolls.” Is the first thing Liam tells her sternly when he’s saddling her up in the flied meant for practice take offs and landings. “Don’t purposely do shit to throw me off.”

 

 _I would never._ Invidia grins in a way that makes Liam think she’s completely and utterly lying.

 

“Sure.” He says flatly, with a small roll of his eyes. He gently rubs her wings and can’t help but step back and look at her. She was a deep green, nearly black, with two sets of horns on her head. The first twist back and up, and the second only going back and then twist down wards. Her wings were a strong, basic design that was a lighter green than her body.

 

 _Are you going to stare at me all day or are we going to fly?_ Invidia asks but Liam can tell how nervous she is about this.

 

“I told you, we’re waiting on-”

 

“Sorry, sorry I’m late.” Louis yells, his dragon dropping into the field. His dragon is larger than Invidia and both Liam and Louis reckon it’ll stay that way, seeing how abnormally large his dragon is. “Someone here didn’t think to go to the bathroom before we took off.” He rolls his eyes, slipping off the back of his dragon. “Liam, Invidia, meet Ardere.”

 

Ardere bows his head slightly, but other than that, makes no indication of his feelings towards Liam or his dragon. _Are we flying yet?_ Invidia asks, looking over at Liam. “Invidia wants to know if we’re getting in the air yet.” Liam passes on. “We’re both pretty anxious to get up there, honestly.”

 

“Then why aren’t you on your dragon?” Louis asks, rolling his eyes. “Go on, get up there and figure out how the two of you work.”

 

“I thought you were supposed to teach me.” Liam says, an eyebrow raised but he gingerly climbs onto Invidia, slipping into the saddle. It feels weird, honestly, sitting on a dragon and not having someone else controlling it or having to wrap his arms around someone’s smaller but still strong and-

 

 _Stop thinking about him._ Invidia says. _He made his position towards us clear._

 

“I know.” Liam mutters, gently rubbing at some scales. “I just can’t help it sometimes.”

 

“You two good up there?” Louis calls over, already climbing back onto his dragon.

 

Liam gives him a thumbs up. “All good!” He calls over.

 

“Then get your ass in the air!” Louis calls back, laughing as Ardere leaps up into the air, strong back legs giving him a good vertical jump up before his wings are shooting out, catching the air.

 

“Invidia don’t do-” Liam begins but it’s too late, Invidia’s copying Ardere, not getting quiet as high as the other dragon, but it’s high enough that Liam’s sure he’s left his stomach back on the ground, his hands tight on her saddle.

 

 _Don’t be such a killjoy Liam!_ She laughs, flapping her wings and bringing them higher up in the air.

 

“I just don’t want to fucking die!” Liam half yells, half screams, his legs tight against her body as she twists and turns through the air, doing a couple barrel rolls as she goes. “I thought I said no barrel rolls!” Liam screams, eyes shut tight as he tries to focus on keeping his lunch in him.

 

Invidia huffs, settling out so she’s just gliding on the air, occasionally flapping her wings so they don’t drop. _You’re no fun._ She says, a pout evident in her voice.

 

“Yes but I’m alive.” Liam points out, finally opening his eyes and he’s stunned to silence. The view is… “Oh my god.” Liam says softly, looking at it. The sun was high in the air, barely a could in the vibrantly blue sky. Liam could see a couple lakes in the distance, and in all direction he looks, there’s trees and life every where. “Is this what you always see up here?”

 

 _Well I mean sometimes it’s cloudy,_ she jokes, a _nd usually I don’t have a boring loser on my back so I can do whatever I want without the threat of him puking everywhere._

 

“Oh shut up.” Liam says, rolling his eyes. He resettles on Invidia, moving so he’s pressed closer to her. “How far can you nose dive before getting scared?” He tests.

 

 _Bet I can last longer than you_. She smirks, not giving Liam a second to brace himself as she quickly clamps her wings shut, turning down wards as they drop like a missile. Liam screams, but not in fear this time as he hears the wind whipping past his ears. He doesn’t let her get too close to the trees, pulling her back up soon enough. _Told you so._

 

“I enjoy living thanks.” Liam laughs, gently patting her side.

 

Liam doesn’t know how long they spend up in the air, tossing and turning and learning their limits (Liam’s very adamant on the no barrel rolls) when suddenly- “You look comfy up here!”

 

“Zayn?” Liam shouts, looking over his shoulder. The other boy is riding Flos, who’s very determined flying as close to Liam as possible without either dragon getting hurt.

 

 _You never told me his dragon was this cute what the fuck Liam_. Invidia hisses at him, looking back at Flos. _Shit she’s so cute what the fuck Liam._

 

“I didn’t know dragons could be considered cute.”

 

 _Fuck you I’m cute._ Invidia mutters, slowing down so Flos can catch up. The two boys and their dragons fly in silence for a few minutes before Zayn starts talking.

 

“I um, I was-” He says nervously. “I was told I should apologise.”

 

“I don’t want an apology if you think you have to give it.” Liam says, not looking at him.

 

Zayn pauses for a couple moments, biting his lip and thinking. “I-I’m just. I’m not sure how to explain myself?” He says. “Also can we discuss this on the ground? I’d rather not have to yell back and forth.”

 

Liam sighs, Invidia taking the cue to fall back and head over to the field where they took off. She drops down noisily and without grace, causing Liam to let out a loud grunt at the rough landing. “Next time we’re working on that and you’re take off.” He says, slipping out of the saddle and getting off of her.

 

Zayn drops down next to Invidia, slipping off of Flos expertly as the two dragons look at each other and if Liam didn’t know better, he’d say Invidia was blushing under the other dragon’s attention. “You could’ve warned me.” Zayn says. “I didn’t know if you were just pissed at me or-”

 

“Oh I’m pissed.” Liam nods, crossing his arms. “And you have two minutes to explain until I leave.”

 

Zayn nods, glancing back at Flos who’s- “Wait dragons can kiss?” Zayn says, jaw dropping slightly. “Shit.”

 

Liam can’t help it- he starts laughing, causing the two dragons to break away. “Oh my god.” He says through his laughter, grinning at them as Invidia hisses at him, obviously embarrassed about getting caught. “Our dragons have made out before we have.” He says, face going bright red as he brings his hands up to his mouth, realising what he said and what it implies.

 

“We have made out before.” Zayn points out. “Before uh, before I was an idiot and ignored you.”

 

“Which you still have to explain and that was a kiss, not a make out.” Liam points out. “And I’m still angry. With you. Amused at the situation but angry with you.” He says firmly, trying to stop smiling.

 

“Right um.” Zayn says, cheeks blushing. “I like you rather a lot. Like, a lot a lot.” Zayn admits, looking down at his fingers. “And I just generally don’t like people, not like- not like how I like you.”

 

“Yet, you were kind of an asshole.” Liam says. “All because I have a dark dragon.”

 

Zayn looks up at him. “I’ve been around dragons and dragon riders since I was 6. I’ve been training since I was 15. I’ve been on the battle field since I was 16.” He says. “I’ve been in this battle for 5 years Liam, been around people talking about dark dragons and how wrong they are-” there’s a small growl from Invidia, interrupting him. “Sorry Invidia.” Zayn says, glancing back at a slightly shocked dragon before looking back at Liam. “How wrong they believed the dark dragons are and what they supposedly do to their riders. I… I’ve had this ideal about dark dragons all but beaten into me.” He explains.

 

“So you’re asking me to forgive you because this was how you were raised?” Liam asks, a single eyebrow raised.

 

“Partially.” Zayn says, rubbing at his eyes a bit. “I’m… I’m trying Liam, I am. Just… Give me something, please.”

 

Liam bites his lip. “What do you want from me?” He asks, looking at him. “I’m pissed at you Zayn. You wouldn’t let me explain. How can you expect even a friendship between us if you don’t let me explain things?”

 

“I-I’m…” Zayn stutters. “I’m sorry. You’re right I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t have expect you to just-”

 

Liam watches as Zayn stutter attempt his way through another explanation before interrupting him. “One way.”

 

“What?” Zayn asks, extremely confused.

 

“There’s one way you can make it up to me.” Liam says. “Ride Invidia.”

 

 _Wait what?!_ Invidia interrupts, looking at Liam like he’s grown a second head.

 

“What?” Zayn asks, looking at Liam the exact same way. It’s almost comical, how alike the two look in that moment.

 

Liam nods his head. “Invidia will let you.” He says, looking at her and she sighs, a cue Liam knows she’s agreeing, but she’s not happy about it. “And she won’t kill you either. It’ll help you trust her.” He pauses. “And if she trusts you, I’ll trust you too.”

 

Zayn bites his lip, tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip as well. He glances back at Invidia before looking back at Liam. “I… Ok.” He agrees.

 

Liam blinks, surprised. “Wait, really?” He asks. He was sure Zayn would refuse.

 

Zayn nods again. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll ride her. If she wants me to.”

 

 _Well shit, I’ve actually got to do this now don’t I?_ Invidia asks him and Liam nods.

 

“She’ll let you.” Liam confirms, walking over with Zayn to her. “Don’t kill him, but try your test to scare him.” He mutters to Invidia, low enough that Zayn can’t hear.

 

Invidia smirks, looking at Liam. _Aye aye boss._

 

Zayn takes a shake breath, carefully climbing up her until he’s settled down in the saddle. He’s barely begun to hold onto the saddle when Invidia shoots up into the air, Zayn letting out a terrified scream. “She’ll make sure he doesn’t die.” Liam says, walking over to Flos. She looks at Liam with lazy eyes for a moment, before closing them and taking a deep breath.

 

 _If he pees or pukes on me, you’re in trouble_. Invidia says suddenly as she shoots around the air, doing her best to freak Zayn out.

 

“I’ll wash you myself if that happens.” Liam promises with a laugh as he watches Invidia nose dive, getting much closer to the ground than she did when he was riding her. After the nosedive though, she seems to fly low, stopping her tricks. They stay like that for a few minutes, just flying low before Invidia shoots back up and Zayn’s letting out a loud whoop.

 

They land back down awkwardly, Invidia obviously not having gotten a hang on landing. Zayn slides off her back, stumbling slightly when he hits the ground. Liam rushes over to him on instinct, not wanting Zayn to fall. He grabs his arm, letting Zayn lean against him. “You’re dragon is insane.” Zayn finally says a few moments later, still leaning against Liam even if he’s not feeling dizzy anymore.

 

“Good insane or bad insane?” Liam asks cautiously.

 

“I… Am not entirely sure, honestly.” Zayn says, looking up at him. Liam can’t help but admit to himself that his eyes seem to twinkle and glow in the sunlight. “Leaning towards the good insane though.”

 

 _He’s… He’s good._ Invidia says, watching the two of them. _I can’t say I trust him entirely but he seems ok. You have my permission._

 

“You’re permission?” Liam can’t help but ask, laughing a bit.

 

“Your dragon just gave your permission? For what?” Zayn asks, looking a bit hopeful.

 

 _Kiss him you idiot or I’ll lift you both up-_ Invidia starts but Liam ignores her, leaning down to Zayn. He’s close enough that their lips brush with every movement and-

 

“Are you going to kiss me now?” Zayn whispers, arms around Liam’s neck. His fingers are tangled into his hair, bringing Liam’s face closer so their foreheads are touching.

 

“Thinking about it.” Liam admits softly, arms wrapped around Zayn’s waist. “Thinking about teasing you a little long, dragging it out. I am supposed to be mad at you.” He points out.

 

“Kiss me and then be mad at me.” Zayn says, not really giving him a choice in the matter because he leans up the rest of the way, pressing his lips to Liam’s and kissing him.

 

Liam moans softly, kissing Zayn back passionately, tightening his grip around the smaller boys waist and lifting him up. Zayn groans gently, wrapping his legs around Liam’s waist as Liam’s hands move to his ass to support his waist. “I can definitely get behind this.” Zayn giggles against his lips, causing Liam to smile.

 

“Shut up and kiss me again you doughnut.” He laughs softly, pressing his lips to Zayn’s again.

 

_______________________________________

 

_Four months later_

 

“Fu-uck Liam-” Zayn stutters as Liam bangs him up against his dorm wall loudly. “Fuck baby, thought you died-” He whines, hands in Liam hair and nails scratching at his scalp. “Didn’t know where you were or if you were ok until I saw Invidia-”

 

“M’okay, we’re ok.” Liam says, pulling away from Zayn’s throat and looking at his handy work. It was covered in love bites and hickeys, causing Liam to smile at bit.

 

“Fuck you, looking so smug- do something about my dick you asshole.” Zayn mutters, purposefully grinding down on Liam.

 

Liam swears, grinding back up onto Zayn and leaning forward to kiss him messily. He places a hand on either side of Zayn’s head, bracing himself on the wall as he and Zayn grind messily on the wall. “As- as hot as this is,” Liam stutters, whimpering when Zayn grinds down particularly hard. “Oh fuck- we should- we should get to a be-ed oh my god Zayn.” He groans as Zayn sucks and kiss along his neck, finding Liam’s sweet spot easily.

 

“Yeah, bed, good idea.” Zayn says, pulling off of Liam’s neck and letting his head rest again the wall. “Fuck you make me feel like a teenage figuring out what his dick is used for exactly.” He laughs shakily as he undoes his legs from around Liam’s waist, Liam keeping his hands on Zayn’s ass so he doesn’t accidentally fall.

 

“Mmm.” Liam mumbles against Zayn’s neck, undoing his pants with one hand and shoving them down. He falls to his knees quickly, Zayn’s mouth opening in a silent ‘oh’ as he figures out what Liam’s about to do. He doesn’t give Zayn any warning of any sort, just using one of his hands to slowly stroke his cock before it settles at the base of it and he’s sucking the tip of Zayn’s cock into his mouth. He moans around it, swirling his tongue around the tip before slowly bobbing his head up and down. He wants nothing more than to go all the way down and deep throat Zayn but he learnt the first time he gave Zayn a blow job that that wasn’t the best idea. Instead, he works slowly and focuses on stimulating the tip of Zayn’s dick and, tortuously slow, jerks off what he can’t fit in his mouth yet.

 

“Fuck, babe, you look so good like this.” Zayn whimpers softly, hand tangled in Liam’s hair. “Oh god Liam, so good, you’re mouth babe, want it on me all the time.”

 

Liam moans around his cock, pushing down farther and taking more of Zayn into his mouth. He stays there for a couple moments, content to just suck on Zayn’s dick before he pulls back all the way, letting Zayn’s dick fall out of his mouth with an obscene popping noise. “Bed?” He asks, voice slightly rougher than usual.

 

Zayn nods, tugging Liam up and over to the bed. He pushes the larger boy down, straddling his hips as Zayn sits down on top of him. “How d’you wanna do this?” Zayn asks, grabbing both of their cocks in one had and slowly jerking them off together.

 

Liam moans, eyes fluttering shut as he thrusts up into Zayn’s hand. “Whatever you want, please.” He mumbles, head thrown back, exposing his throat to the other boy. “Please Zayn, anything.”

 

“Could fuck you babe.” Zayn mumbles, moving his hand faster around himself and Liam. “Would you like that babe? Me fucking you?”

 

Liam nods, moaning. “P-please Zayn.” He stutters, eyes flying open as Zayn lets go of their dicks and moves back a bit, causing him to whimper slightly.

 

“Gotta prep you babe.” Zayn mumbles, shifting one of Liam’s legs so it’s rest on his shoulder, his face close to the other boy’s ass. “Love how you taste.” He mutters, his tongue darting out and pressing his tongue flat against Liam’s hole. Above him, Liam squirms and twists, his breath coming out in short, little pants.

 

“Za-ayn.” He moans, his voice cracking in the middle of his name. Zayn just hums softly, pressing the tip of his tongue into Liam. The reaction he gets from Liam is the one he wants, the other boy twisting and moaning loudly so Zayn slowly begins to fuck him with his tongue, keep it tense as he presses in as far as he can to Liam, making sure to get it him wet and stretched. “Oh god Zayn, so close.” Liam half mumbles, half moans as he grinds down desperately onto Zayn’s face.

 

Zayn pulls back, looking up at Liam as his tongue dart out, licking his own lips. “Pass me the lube yeah babe?” He says as Liam stares at his tongue. Liam has to blink a couple times before he’s registering what Zayn is asking. He blindly grabs the lube from underneath his pillow, handing it to Zayn. “Good boy.” Zayn praises him softly, gently petting Liam’s thigh. He uncaps the lube, spreading some of it onto Liam’s ass but putting most of it onto his fingers. He presses his finger to the rim of Liam’s hole, enjoying watching the other boy squirm under his touch.

 

“Zayn.” He moans. “Zayn babe, need more. Need you in me.” Liam begs shamelessly.

 

Zayn moans softly at Liam’s words and gently presses his finger inside of Liam. Liam moves back against it instantly, already stretched a bit from the his tongue but Zayn keeps it slow, dragging out the prep. Liam whines above him, obviously wanting Zayn to move faster or harder or just give Liam some sort of more but Zayn refuses, only pushing the one finger in slowly and dragging it back out equally as slow. “You’re such a mess for me baby.” Zayn says softly, eyes on Liam’s desperate cock.

 

“Need more, please Zayn.” Liam begs again, breathing harshly.

 

Zayn finally relents, allowing himself to slip another finger in Liam, going faster and harder too, just like how Liam had wanted him to go. Liam moans get louder as he fucks himself back onto Zayn’s fingers. Zayn moans with him, watching his fingers slip in and out of Liam at an alarming speed before he’s suddenly adding a third finger. He twists and fucks them up into Liam, keeping the same brutal pace as Liam whimpers desperately above him until suddenly and without warning, he pulls his fingers out of Liam, causing him to whine loudly above Zayn. “Need a condom babe.” Zayn says softly, gently biting at the milky white of Liam’s inner thighs. His legs tremble slightly as Liam moans above him, looking around in his bedside table for a condom.

 

Liam manages to find one surprisingly quickly for someone in his state, but Zayn really doesn’t question it as he takes it from Liam, ripping it open with his teeth and sliding it on his dick in one swift motion. He tightens his hold around the base of his cock, not wanting to accidentally come before getting in Liam. Zayn lines up his cock with Liam’s hole after a couple moments, looking at the other boy. “Zayn please.” Liam whimpers when he doesn’t push in, just pressing the tip against his hole.

 

“Good babe?” Zayn asks in a low voice, wanting to make sure Liam’s 100% on board with this happening.

 

“Been good the whole time, need you in me.” Liam says again, attempting to push his hips back against Zayn and force the other boy’s dick into him. Zayn growls softly, gripping Liam’s hips and fucking up into him so suddenly and swiftly that it the force of the thrust has Liam moving up the bed a bit, crying out in ecstasy. “Fu-uck, right there.” Liam moans, nodding at Zayn.

 

Zayn can’t help but smirk a bit, having found Liam’s prostate so easily and begins thrusting Liam at the same quick, hard pace as the firs thrust. It doesn’t take long to bring Liam right to the edge, not with the foreplay and the rough pace Zayn’s set for them. “Cl-close?” Zayn grunts, reaching around and gripping Liam a free hand. The angle is awkward but it’s worth it because a couple strokes later, Liam’s coming between the two boys, painting their chests white as he clenches desperately around Zayn’s dick.

 

“Zayn!” Liam all but shouts as he comes, fucking back to meet Zayn’s thrusts as he comes before going limp, letting Zayn use him to chase after his own release.

 

“So close baby.” Zayn mutters, slowing his pace just a bit, knowing Liam will be overly sensitive right after his orgasm. “So clo-ose.” He moans, hips stuttering irregularly into Liam as he comes, breathing heavily as he empties his load into the condom and collapse onto the other boy.

 

They lay in a comfortable silence for a couple moments before Zayn pulls back and out of Liam, tugging his condom off and tying it off. He tosses it in the trash, grabbing a couple tissues to wipe the come off of the two of them.

 

“How are you still moving after that?” Liam mumbles sleepily, letting Zayn do all of the work to clean them off. Like always.

 

“Some of us still have some sort of control over our limbs after we come.” Zayn teases gently, finishing cleaning Liam up and starting on himself. He tosses out the dirty tissues moments later, laying beside Liam in the small bed.

 

“Shh, sleeping.” Liam mumbles, curling up next to Zayn.

 

Zayn huffs a small laugh, gently threading his fingers through Liam’s hair as he easily falls asleep, exhausted from their battle earlier and the (rather amazing) sex they just finished. It doesn’t take Zayn much longer to fall asleep, his hand stopping mid stroke in Liam’s hair. It doesn’t really matter to either boy that one of them could die at any given moment, not when it’s just the two of them pressed closely together in the small bed in a room smelling heavily of sex.

 

Nothing matters between the two of them but the other boy. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [squishyliampayne](http://squishyliampayne.tumblr.com/)


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